The Russian Federation and U.S. Minerals Management Service are exchanging information regarding offshore oil and gas exploration and development opportunities on the Chukchi Sea Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) between Wrangel Island and northwestern Alaska north of Bering Strait. Russian and U.S. agencies will benefit from data sharing and cooperative studies of the biological and sociological environment, resulting in a more comprehensive environmental risk assessment. Russian regulatory agencies will benefit from the historical experience of safe and environmentally sound operations in the Alaska OCS. The Chukchi Sea area includes several geologic basins and structural zones that extend across the U.S.-Russia Provisional Maritime Boundary along 169" West Longitude. An extensive seismic data network and 5 exploratory wells on the U.S. Chukchi OCS indicate great promise for large, undiscovered oil accumulations in that area. With only sparse seismic data and no test wells, only the broadest geological features of the Russian Cbukchi OCS are known at present, but appear to include some of the geological elements recognized as favorable to formation of oil and gas accumulations in the U.S. Chukchi OCS.
The purpose of this paper is to review the purpose and status of Russian United Slates (U.S.) offshore oil and gas initiatives on the Chukchi shelf and to describe the area's broad geologic potential. The Russian Federation Committee on Geology and Use of Mineral Resources (ROSCOMNEDRA) and the U.S. Minerals Management Service (MMS), Department of the Interior (DOI), are presently exchanging information regarding offshore oil and gas exploration and development opportunities on the Chukchi Sea Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) between Chulcotka, Wrangel Island, and the northwestern coast of Alaska north of the Bering Strait. This area includes parts of the U.S. Chukchi Sea and Hope Basin Planning Areas, and the Russian Northern and Southern Chukchi Sea Planning Areas (fig. 2).
